Loading Audio Into Reason's NNXT Advanced Sampler

I always get asked how to load samples into Reason that have been created in a different digital audio workstation (DAW). I’m going to show how to chop up a piece of audio in Logic and then import it into the NN-XT advanced sampler in Reason.

After I open Logic, I just chose an audio segment to use.

Then I'll export the region as a WAVE file, which is what the NN-XT sampler will be able to play. Highlight the region by selecting it and then simply control-click on it and export. When you are finished, QUIT OUT OF LOGIC. This is so that we don't inadvertently open Reason in Rewire mode. More about that here.

Now to the goodies. Open your Reason session and create a mixer and an NN-XT advanced sampler. You can easily load it from the CREATE menu on top of the window or conveniently by just control-clicking on the black area of the hardware window.

Now load the NN-XT the same way you did it with the Mixer. Make sure the signal flow is set up correctly so you don’t have weird settings messing up your groove! You can do this by pressing the tab button, it will show you the back of the virtual rack where you can verify everything is smoothly running.

Now clear the NNXT by just control-clicking on the device and choosing INITIALIZE PATCH from the menu.

Open the NNXT Remote Editor by clicking in the little arrow at the bottom left side of the device.

Now you can browse for the audio file from Logic and voilá! You have your sample loaded into the NN-XT.

Now you can start playing around with the effects from the ENVELOPES, FILTERS, LFO’S, etc.

You can even add delay to the sample, reverb, scream distortion, the only limit you have is the one you put on yourself.

Have fun!

-by LC Tech Blog contributor José Andrés Márquez